1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electronic equipment data center or co-location facility designs and methods of making and using the same in an environmentally aware manner. In particular, the present invention is directed to an integrated wiring system and thermal shield support apparatus for a data center.
2. Background of the Invention
Data centers and server co-location facilities are well-known. In such facilities, rows of electronics equipment, such as servers, typically owned by different entities, are stored. In many facilities, cabinets are used in which different electronics equipment is stored, so that only the owners of that equipment, and potentially the facility operator, have access therein. In many instances, the owner of the facilities manages the installation and removal of servers within the facility, and is responsible for maintaining utility services that are needed for the servers to operate properly. These utility services typically include providing electrical power for operation of the servers, providing telecommunications ports that allow the servers to connect to transmission grids that are typically owned by telecommunication carriers, and providing air-conditioning services that maintain temperatures in the facility at sufficiently low levels in order for the
There are some well-known common aspects to the designs of these facilities. For example, it is known to have the electronic equipment placed into rows, and further to have parallel rows of equipment configured back-to back so that each row of equipment generally forces the heat from the electronic equipment toward a similar area, known as a hot aisle, as that aisle generally contains warmer air that results from the forced heat from the electronics equipment. In the front of the equipment is thus established a cold aisle.
In conventional facilities, wiring for electrical power and cabling for data is typically routed in an ad-hoc manner. More recently, systems for a more uniform system of wiring have been proposed. Nonetheless, there is still needed an apparatus that can provide for local wiring within a cabinet cluster, as well as for wiring that must be routed to different clusters from a distribution area. Still furthermore, there is the need for an apparatus that can provide for the wiring referred to above, as well as the support for a thermal shield that can create a physical partition to assist with thermal gradients that are desirable within a cabinet cluster.